Telecoms firms and retailers will take centre stage this week with heavyweights Vodafone, O2, Sainsbury's and GUS all due to report interim figures.

Investors will find out whether Sainsbury's recovery is still on track when it reports on its first half performance on Wednesday.

The UK's third largest supermarket has already reported a 2.8 per cent rise in like-for-like sales excluding petrol for its second quarter, although it is unlikely to give more recent figures.

Analyst Simon Proctor at stockbroker Charles Stanley said: "Whilst we would not expect current trade numbers to be given, we have no reason to believe that underlying third quarter growth has slowed from the second quarter."

HAnalysts expect pre-tax profits for the six months to October 1 to come in at £119 million, unchanged on a year earlier under new accounting standards. The flat performance is likely to reflect the cost of investing in its turnaround strategy.

Mobile phone heavyweight Vodafone is expected to deliver a positive set of first half figures on Tuesday with profits tipped to rise to £6.5bn from £6.3bn last time.

Any comments on the predicted uptake of 3G services this Christmas will be eagerly awaited by analysts, after the firm unveiled details of 15 new handsets earlier this year.

The group said in July that its UK operations had regained momentum during its first quarter, increasing total customer numbers by 8.9 per cent or 165,000 to 15.5 million.